Today we explored Quito, Ecuador. Quito means “Earth in the middle of the world” from the indigenous Quitu people.
We began the morning with a visit to the the Sinamune School which was created with the purpose of providing training and musical therapy to people with disabilities, by Maestro Edgar Palacios. The school’s orchestra gave us a wonderful concert accompanied by several dancers. The school is sponsored by OAT, our travel company. The school performs all over the world and has even performed for the Pope Benedict XVI in 2006 . We also visited an art, sewing and crafts classroom. It was an absolutely amazing experience.
Next we visited the Intinan Museum on the equator at 0 latitude. We last visited here in September 2021. It offered interactive and educational experiences where we participated in experiments to demonstrate phenomena unique to the equator. They showed us how water drains differently in the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere and the equator (Coriolis Effect). They had us try to balance an egg on the head of a nail. We tried to walk heal to toe with our arms out and eyes closed on the line of the equator. It was fun and educational. We finished with a chocolate tour and got to sample some delicious types.
We then drove to the Colonial area of Quito where our guides, Elena and Pablo discussed the flag. We saw the Palacio de Carondelet (the Ecuadorian equivalent of the White House) and had a nice lunch. We visited a beautiful church (Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús). It took which took 150 years to build beginning in 1605. We saw Freedom Monument in the square and the bishop’s palace. There are 26 churches in the Old Town, which is pretty amazing given how small an area it is. After riding the new subway (only a couple years old) from the San Francisco terminal for a few stops we got back on the bus and returned to the hotel.
That evening we were fitted for our wet suits we will use in the Galapagos. The water around the islands is expected to be 70 degrees so these should keep us nice and toasty, we hope. All in all, it was a tremendous day.
Sinamune School
Intinan Museum
Colonial Quito, Church and Wetsuits
